In addition to the above, there are the following annuities to be

If these were capitalised, the total debt of Belgium would amount to 85 millions sterling.

Almost the entire debt of Belgium was raised for, and devoted to works of public utility, particularly the construction of state railways. There is a sinking fund attached to all descriptions of the debt, with the exception of the 24% old debt.

The total debt amounts to about 157. per head of population, and the annual charge to 14s. 6d. ; but the interest is more than covered by the revenue from railways alone. The total exports of home produce average 101. per head. The provincial budgets for the year 1885 show a total revenue for all the provinces of 15,323,792 francs, and a total expenditure of 15,094,164 francs, thus leaving a surplus of 229,628 francs.

Army.

The standing army is formed by conscription, to which every able man who has completed his nineteenth year is liable, and also voluntary enlistment. Substitution is permitted. The legal period of service is eight years, of which, however, two-thirds are allowed, as a rule, on furlough. The following is the composition of the Belgian army :-Infantry: 1 regiment of carabineers, of 4 active and 2 non-active battalions and 1 depôt; 1 regiment grenadiers, 3 regiments chasseurs à pied, 14 regiments of the line, each of these three bodies of 3 active and 1 non-active battalions and 1 depôt; 2 sedentary companies; a corps of discipline and correction of 14 companies; a school for army cadets. Cavalry: 2 regiments of chasseurs, 4 regiments of lancers, 2 regiments of guides, each of 5 active squadrons. Artillery: A special staff; 4 field regiments, 2 of 8 mounted batteries and 2 batteries of reserve, and 2 of 2 horse and 7 mounted batteries, and 1 reserve battery; 3 siege regiments of 16 siege batteries, 1 reserve and 1 depôt battery; 4 special companies; a train battalion, consisting of a staff and 7 companies. Engineers: A special staff; 1 regiment of 3 battalions of sappers and miners, of 4 companies and a depôt; 5 special companies, telegraphists, railway corps, &c. Administrative battalion, consisting of a staff and 8 companies, each of 4 sections. The following is the peace-strength of the Belgian army according to the budget of 1886 :—

To this should be added the general and special staff, 125 officers;

military intendance 150; and 222 as also 9,000 horses and 204 guns.

officers of the sanitary service; In time of war the total strength

is 103,860 men, 13,800 horses, and 240 guns.

Besides the standing army, there is a 'Garde Civique,' numbering, March 31, 1884, 34,985 men. The Gendarmerie consists of 53 officers 2,011 men and 1,367 horses (1885-6). The chief military arsenal of the kingdom is Antwerp.

Area and Population.

Belgium has an area of 29,455 square kilomètres, or 11,373 English square miles. The kingdom is divided into nine provinces, the area and population of which were as follows at the census of December 31, 1880, and by estimate on December 31, 1883

In 1883 there were 2,890,812 males and 2,894,146 females. The density of population for the whole of Belgium was thus in 1884, 508 per square mile; in Brabant and East Flanders the density was nearly 800 per square mile.

During the five years 1876-80 the total rate of increase was 3.4

per cent.

According to the census returns of 1880 there are 2,237,867 Belgians who speak French only; 2,479,747 who speak Flemish

only; 41,046, German only; 420,339, French and Flemish; 35,324, French and German; 2,809, Flemish and German; 13,410 who speak all three languages; and 6,412 who do not speak any of the three. The census returns according to occupation are tabulated as follows:

:

The difference between the above total and that of the population is no doubt accounted for by the fact that many persons are entered under more than one head.

It is estimated that about 800,000 people are directly engaged in agricultural pursuits.

Land in Belgium is divided, according to an estimate of 1883, among 1,161,874 freehold proprietors, who possess 2,615,931 hectares of land, out of a total of 2,945,516 hectares. The State owned (1864 the latest returns) only 39,289 hectares, and the communes 290,296 hectares.

The following table gives the number of births, deaths, and marriages in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884 :

In addition to the above births and deaths in 1884 there were 8,348, or 4.32 per cent. of total births still-born; 14,987, or 8:48 per cent. of the living births were illegitimate.

In 1883 there were accused before the assize courts 123 persons, of whom 104 were convicted; and before the correctional tribunals

45,895, of whom 31,460 were sentenced, 17,996 to fines only. In 1883 there were 10,984 entries into the depôts of mendicity, the mean number during the year being 3,285.

The following table shows the immigration and emigration of

The following are the populations of the most important towns,

January 1, 1885:

The value of the general commerce in the year 1883 was represented by a total of exports and imports amounting to 5,410,900,000 francs. The special commerce was as follows in the year 1883:

37,490 Mons

24,827

33,773 Alost

30,607

Ostend

28,736 Charleroi

22,143

21,095

20,064

There was, besides, a transit trade valued at 1,262,400,000 francs for 1883. The following table shows the share of the leading countries in the commerce of Belgium in 1883:

-

The commercial intercourse of Belgium with Great Britain is shown in the subjoined tabular statement in each of the five years 1880 to 1884 :

The principal articles of export from Belgium to the United Kingdom are woollen yarn and flax, the first, of the value of 1,213,710., and the second of 956,9337. in 1884; silk manufactures, chiefly stuffs and ribbons, 1,554,363l.; sugar, refined and unrefined, 478,3271.; bar iron and manufactures, of the value of 684,1817. ; butter, of the value of 277,4667.; eggs, 712,0431.; and poultry and game, including rabbits, of the value of 385,8001. in 1884. The export of cotton manufacture from Belgium to Great Britain was 513,8261. in 1884, and only 201,0147. in 1879. The imports of British produce into Belgium consist in the main of iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 296,8291., woollens of the value of 1,545,1337. (yarn 224,7887.), and cottons of the value of 2,156,4147. (yarn 770,8901.) in the year 1884.

About one-seventh of the area of Belgium is under woods and forests, and one-third under corn-crops, chiefly wheat, rye, and oats. In 1883 Belgium imported 1,261,000 tons and exported 461,000 tons of cereals. Beetroot cultivation is important; in 1883 the